Finding Family
by livingtothefull
Summary: Post-Theatricality. Finn runs away and the Hummells learn things about him they never knew. My take on what should have happened. WARNING - Child abuse


Carole had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. She knew that something was wrong, and was trying to drive home as quickly as possible. The move had been hard on Finn, she knew that. He hadn't had the best childhood, she hadn't been able to give him the things he deserved but Burt was going to give them that, she just needed Finn to see that. Burt was everything Carole had been looking for; he made her feel special, and something no man had been able to do since Christopher. They could be a family, if Finn would accept that. Pulling into the driveway she grabbed her bags and headed inside. She saw that Burt and Kurt were sitting around the breakfast bar, Kurt had dried tear marks on his face, Burt was looking angry and Finn was nowhere to be seen. Carole felt her stomach drop even more.

"Carole, I think we need to talk" Burt said solemnly.

Burt then explained everything that had happened that night. From Kurt redecorating the room, to Finn's freaking out about it, to Burt kicking him out. He made sure that he spoke as unbiased as possible and tried not to leave out any details. It was hard to say, he could see Kurt flinch out of the corner of his eye when he explain Finn's choice of words. When he had explained the whole story he looked up at Carole and waited to see what she would say.

She didn't reply for a few seconds, she was taking it all in "So where is he now?" She asked. She couldn't believe what he had done, but she knew her son, and she knew he shouldn't be alone right now.

"I don't know" Burt replied. She could tell he was ashamed that he had just let Finn leave without finding out where he would go but he had to protect his family and at the time he was just so angry to think rationally.

"You don't know? You just let my son leave in the middle of the night and not find out where he was going?" She was shocked. This was her son he had kicked out.

"You don't know how upset Kurt was, you didn't see the hatred in Finn's eyes when he was talking" He defended himself.

"And you don't know the things that Finn has been through in his life" Carole yelled "You don't know why he reacted like that"

"Then tell us" Burt said quietly.

"When Finn was a baby so many people tried to take him off me. My parents said that without Chris, I was unfit to be a mother; social services told me I didn't have enough money to take care of a kid. But I proved them wrong; I worked two jobs and slaved away all by myself trying to make it work. I made a life for Finn and I, I gave him everything that I could. When Finn was four I lost my job, and things were hard. We ate dinner every night down at the city mission; I couldn't even afford to give my son food on his plate. It took me two years of hard work to get us back on track. And that's when I met Johnny"

Burt and Kurt were listening to every word she said. Kurt was surprised, he had always known Finn to not be a materialistic guy never really caring what clothes he was wearing or the latest gadget. Kurt never knew that this probably came from the fact Finn had next to nothing growing up, he didn't even have a meal on the table at the end of the day. Kurt was so thankful for the childhood his parents had given him.

"I thought Johnny was amazing, he was everything that he looked for. And having someone at the house meant that I could pick up more shifts without having to hire a sitter for Finn. About five months into dating Johnny I noticed that Finn was becoming quieter and reserved. He would flinch whenever you went near him and he would barely talk. I just put it down to him growing up, he was about seven at that time and I figured some of it was him being angry that I was always gone. Then one night I came home and Johnny was passed out drunk, he tended to have a lot to drink. I could hear crying, and I knew it was Finn. I ran into Finn's room and couldn't see him but I could still hear him crying. I looked everywhere and then I finally found him. Johnny had locked him in the closet in his room, and Finn was crying his eyes out. I lifted out of the closet and he started screaming like he was in pain. When I got him into the light I saw that his chest and back were covered in blood. Johnny had been beating him every night when I went to work. He still has the scars from the belt on his back, that's why he never takes his shirt off"

Burt and Kurt were shocked; they couldn't imagine anyone hurting a child, especially a kid as sweet as Finn.

"When Finn had finally calmed down I rang the police. Johnny was arrested and Finn was taken to the local hospital, he was in there for about a week he had that many wounds on his body. I got Finn to tell me everything. Johnny would beat him senseless, lock him the closet and tell Finn that if he ever told me, then he would kill me and make him watch. It turns out Johnny had also molested Finn a few times. This had been going on for almost six months and I didn't even notice. I was so concerned with earning money so that I could provide Finn with everything he needed and in doing that I neglected to give Finn the one thing he needed most, protection"

"Carole... I never realized" Burt stammered, he couldn't believe what he had just heard. Carole had tears running down her face along with Kurt. Everyone was affected by what they had just heard.

"And that's the problem. We moved too soon because you would have never known any of that unless I told you." She told them "But right now none of that matters because my son is missing and I need to find him, to bring him home, wherever that is"

Burt and Kurt said they would come with her, to help find her missing son. After all, they now felt guilty in the part they had played. Kurt felt physically sick after what he had heard. Finn was the nicest person, he would talk to everyone, help out anyone and most of all be a friend to anyone that needed one. To think that he had gone through all of that broke his heart. And to think he had been so open with his crush, he had forced himself on Finn and the only other guy that had been that close to Finn had molested him. Kurt was no longer angry over what Finn said, now he understood; it was just the scared little boy talking who could never stop the monsters from hurting him. He had to find his new brother, he had to find Finn and tell him that he was sorry.

They drove around for hours checking every part of Lima. They checked over the old house Carole and Finn had lived in, he wasn't there but he had left a note. It simply read "You will be better off without me, I have to leave" Carole burst into tears the moment that she read it. Finn was everything to her, he was the reason she got up in the morning. He was the only thing that kept her going after Chris had died, and he was the biggest source of joy in her life. She wouldn't be better off without him; she would just be broken and alone.

Carole's cell phone started ringing. She was surprised to see that it was Puck who was ringing. She knew that Finn and Puck hadn't really been friends since the whole baby drama thing.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Hey Carole, its Puck here" He introduce "Um so I was driving back home tonight and I bumped into Finn. He seemed pretty upset"

"Do you know where he is now?" She asked, glad that someone had seen Finn tonight.

"That's just the thing. He told me that he was skipping town and wanted me to give him a ride to the train station" Puck explained "I dropped him off like 5 minutes ago. The next train comes in about twenty minutes so you might want to hurry"

"Thank you so much Puck"

She ran out of the house and into the truck where Kurt and Burt were waiting. She told them they had to get to the train station as fast as they could, otherwise Finn might be gone forever. Burt broke every single road law trying to get there before the train did. He would never forgive himself if Carole lost her son because of him. He shouldn't have let his anger get the better of him; he should have just taken a breath and thought about things for a second. He was so used to people taking advantage and bullying Kurt that when he saw it happen in his own home he could barely control his anger. He hadn't realized what Finn had been through, he didn't know that Carole and Finn had struggled so much. He also felt sadden every time he thought about his late wife, how little time Kurt had got to spend with her. But at least Kurt had met her; at least she managed to be there long enough to make an impact on Kurt. Finn never met his father, he never learnt any of the life lessons a father teaches their son. Kurt had been so jealous of Burt and Finn spending time together, what Kurt never realized Burt thought sadly, was that Finn had never had any of those experiences before. He never had a person to take him to the game, or to show him how to ride a bike. He had Carole, and he had himself but that was all.

The car pulled up at the train station and Carole flew out of the car as fast as she could. Burt and Kurt decided to stay in the car; they knew this was something that Carole and Finn had to sort out on their own.

Carole ran as fast as she could. She could see Finn sitting alone, waiting for the train that was going to take him to his new life. She had to stop him; she couldn't lose the person she cared for most.

"Finn, Finn" She called out his name when she got close enough that he would hear her.

"Ma?" He sounded unsure, as if he was in shock that she was actually her.

"I'm here baby, and I'm not going anywhere" She promised. Sitting down next to him and pulling him into a hug. She felt like crying, but right now she had to be strong for Finn. He needed her to be his rock right now, and she owed him that much at least.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" He mumbled "I didn't mean to, I didn't meant to" He repeated. He was nearing on hysterical. "You hate me"

"I could never hate you Finn, never" She told him, trying to make him believe her. "But Finn, we have a family now"

"It's not that simple, you know it's not" He retorted "I get a brother, a dad, and then I loose and child that wasn't mine, fail all my classes and say horrible things to people"

"I know it's overwhelming. But I can't tell you how proud I am of the way you have handled everything" She put her hand on his knee, hoping it would bring him some comfort.

"I screamed at Kurt, I said a horrible thing that is not handling it" He said back. "I'm no better than all those guys that hurt us"

Carole paused, trying to hold back her tears "Is that why you ran away? Is that the real reason?"

"When Burt kicked me out, that's when I really knew for sure, that one day you would see that I'm no different from them" He paused for a second, tears were falling down his face "And that you'd eventually stop loving me"

Carole could no longer stop the tears from falling. This was breaking her heart into a thousand pieces. She hated herself for not seeing any of this, for letting this get this far.

"And you stop loving me, nobody else ever would" He cried out. He put his head in his hands.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't give you the childhood you deserved" Carole told him.

"That wasn't your fault" He defended. His mother had tried her best; she had given him a lot.

"But what happened is in the past, and we can't let it affect your future" Carole told him.

"I don't know how" He sounded so lost, as if every childhood insecurity was making its way to the surface.

"I will help you, if you'll let me. Whatever you have to face okay? Because I'm not going anywhere. I will face it with you" She promised, a smile forming on her face for the first time since she had sat down. "Because I will never stop loving you"

They just sat there, Carole holding onto Finns arm making sure that she wasn't going to lose him. This was her baby, this was her son and she was so close to losing him. He had always been unsure of himself, he always had confidence issues and Carole knew that a lot of that was because of the childhood he'd had. She had tried to give him everything and she knew that he didn't blame her but as a parent you want the world for your child, and she had failed to give hers that. She had failed to listen to him; she had ignored his protests about moving in with the Hummel's and looked where it had ended up. She just kept making the same mistakes.

"So where do we go now?" Finn asked softly "I've ruined everything for you"

"You haven't ruined anything Finn. But we can go wherever you want to go Finn" She told him.

"I just want to go home. I don't really care where that is" He sounded so lost. She knew that she was still a long way away from making things better; Finn was a long way from the happiness her deserved and so desperately needed.

She stood up and grabbed his hand. They walked hand in hand out of the train station. She knew how weird they must have looked, her being about two feet shorter than him, but she didn't care. Finn was shaking next to her; she wasn't sure if it was because he was cold or if it was the night's events catching up with him. Either way she just wanted to get her baby home, she just wanted things to be alright again. They walked outside and Finn visibly flinched when he saw that Burt and Kurt were sitting in the car.

"I can't... I can't... I can't do this" He said, he was becoming more agitated by the second. Burt was angry at him, Burt hated him, and now he was sitting in a car waiting for Finn. This was not going to end well, it never did.

"Baby, they don't hate you. They understand" Carole told him.

"You told them, you told them about what happened" Finn replied angrily.

"I had to Finn, I had to make them understand" She defended "I am sorry for that Finn but they had to know"

Finn blinked back the tears, he was so embarrassed. He didn't want anyone knowing what had happened, he didn't want the shame or the pity. He was so ashamed of what happened, he should have done something to stop Johnny hurting him. Everyone in Glee club looked up to him like he was some sort of amazing leader, like he was the strongest one there that would always show them the way. When they learned how weak he really was they would hate him, they would laugh at him and they would leave him. He couldn't risk them finding out what had happened, but he knew that Kurt would tell Mercedes, and Mercedes would tell Tina and eventually the whole damn school would find out. He would have to move schools, to make new friends but he really, really didn't want to.

"Just trust me Finny, everything will be fine" Carole promised and pulled him into a quick hug. This was far to emotion for one night Finn thought bitterly.

Finn climbed into the back of the car next to Kurt. No one said anything, Finn just sat stiffly and kept his eyes down, he didn't want to see the pity and the anger in Burt and Kurt's eyes. No one spoke the entire trip home, they just sat awkwardly, no one knowing what to say to make things right. Finn was so scared, every time they would hit a bump on the road he would flinch, when Kurt stretched his arms Finn almost hit the roof he jumped that high. They were so used to seeing Finn with that goofy grin on his face enjoying life, seeing he like this scared them. They were each feeling so guilty, not knowing how to help the troubled teen.

They pulled up to the Hummel's house and Finn waited until his mother got out of the car before he did. He was so unsure of what to do; he didn't think he was even welcome back here anymore after what he had said early in the night. He was last to walk into the house, standing awkwardly waiting for someone to tell him what to do. He made sure he stayed close to his mother; she would sort things out for him and make things better.

"I think we should have a family meeting" Burt said and walked towards the dining room table. Everyone took a seat around it, with Finn sitting as close to his mother as he possible could but he kept his eyes on the table, not making eye contact with anyone. He was scared.

"We all screwed up tonight and nothing can change that. But we need to decide if we can move past it and keep growing as a family, otherwise we need to end it now" Burt explained.

'Finn I am sorry about what I did. I knew that you didn't have feelings for me and that it made you uncomfortable. I shouldn't have forced everything on you and I am sorry for that" Kurt said quietly. He was embarrassed with himself and in a perfect world would have preferred if his father and Carole didn't have to hear this but Finn deserved an apology.

"I'm sorry I said what I did" Finn mumbled quietly. "I really am"

"So it's obvious you two sharing a room aren't the best thing. We can start looking for a bigger house, sell this one and move. But in the meantime can you to make it work for a few more weeks?" Carole asked them both. They both had to agree or it wouldn't work.

"Yes" Finn said, still not looking at anyone.

"Then I can too" Kurt smiled. He was glad he hadn't scared Finn away for good.

"Then it's settled. We have a long way to go but we can do this, together" Carole smiled and squeezed Finn's hand under the table.

Finn was currently in the shower, and Kurt was moving some of the furniture in their room around. He was making sure that they had two separate sides, and that his decorations were only on his side of the room. Finn's side looked so empty, he hadn't fully unpacked yet but even still he only had about four boxes of stuff. It made Kurt sad looking at it, Finn could fit his whole life into four boxes, and Kurt would need a whole truck to move his memories. Finn had put the photo of him and his father next to his bed and a football trophy from when he was kid next to it. But that was all the sentimental things Finn had, he didn't have the family memories scattered everywhere like Burt and Kurt did. Burt wanted to make sure that Kurt never forgot his mother, making sure that there were photos of her in almost every room, it was something Kurt was so grateful for, and something Finn would never have. He had to give Finn memories, something he could look back in ten years and smile about. He quickly sent a txt around to all the Glee club members, having the perfect idea.

Finn came out of the shower in shorts and a singlet. Kurt could see some of the scars on his shoulders but made sure not to stare at them, Finn didn't need that right now. Finn didn't say a word, he just walked over to his bed got under the covers and put his iPod in. It was clear that he didn't want to talk right now.

The next morning Kurt was out the door as quickly as possible, he had to get to school early to organize the surprise for Finn. Finn got up almost an hour after Kurt, having a quick shower before going upstairs to grab something to eat. Burt had already gone into work and his mother was still asleep. He grabbed his things for school and started walking. He just wanted to crawl into his bed and go back to sleep for a long, long time. By the time he got to school the bell for homeroom had just rung. He saw quietly in the back of the class not really talking to anyone. The glee club members were giving him weird looks, mainly because he was never this quiet. He moved through the entire day not really talking to anyone and he still wouldn't look at Kurt. Finally the end of day bell rung and he headed to Glee club practice, he was surprised to see that everyone was already there.

"Finn, we heard you were going through a rough time and we wanted to show you how much you mean to us all. We couldn't do Glee club without you" Rachel smiled at him; they made him sit down on a chair in front of everyone.

Rachel's voice filled the entire room and then the rest of the group joined in

_If you ever find yourself stuck in the middle of the sea_

_I'll sail the world to find you_

_If you ever find yourself lost in the dark and you can't see_

_I'll be the light to guide you_

_Find out what we're made of_

_What we are called to help our friends in need_

_You can count on me like one, two, three_

_I'll be there and I know when I need it_

_I can count on you like four, three, two_

_And you'll be there 'cause that's what friends_

_Are supposed to do, oh yeah, ooh, ooh_

_If you toss and you turn and you just can't fall asleep_

_I'll sing a song beside you_

_And if you ever forget how much you really mean to me_

_Every day I will remind you_

_Find out what we're made of_

_What we are called to help our friends in need_

_You can count on me like one, two, three_

_I'll be there and I know when I need it_

_I can count on you like four, three, two_

_And you'll be there 'cause that's what friends_

_.com/count_on_me_lyrics_bruno__

_Are supposed to do, oh yeah, ooh, ooh, yeah, yeah_

_You'll always have my shoulder when you cry_

_I'll never let go, never say goodbye_

_You can count on me like one, two, three_

_I'll be there and I know when I need it_

_I can count on you like four, three, two_

_And you'll be there 'cause that's what friends_

_Are supposed to do, oh yeah, ooh, ooh_

_You can count on me 'cause I can count on you_

Finn was in shock by the time they finished. He had never had something so nice done to him before, this was something he would remember for a long time. He didn't know that he meant that much to them, that they would do something this nice for him. He had never had friends like this before, people that truly cared if he was happy or not. This was not just a group of people singing show tunes in his opinion, this was a family.

"Finn, you didn't have the life the rest of us had, you don't have the memories and the photos we all do. So we made you something so that you will have something to remember the Glee club by long after it is finished' It was Kurt speaking now, Finn raised his head and for the first time in almost 24hours, he made eye contact with Finn, that alone brought a huge grin to Kurt's face.

They handed him a scrapbook. Each member of the club had made a page just for him; it had photos and messages from them saying how much they loved him. He didn't remember half these photos being taken but it was him with each member of the Glee club over the years. He smiled when he opened Rachel's page, they may not be dating anymore but she still managed to make his heart flutter. It was filled with photos of the two of them together; she had even included one of them kissing. Every page was beautiful; it was one of the best things he had ever got in his whole life.

"You guys... you really...just... thanks" He stuttered out.

"That's what family is for Finn" Kurt said.

Finn smiled, it was the first genuine smile Kurt had seen in what felt like forever. And in that moment, Finn knew that everything was going to be alright after all.


End file.
